Why Kim Jong Un wanted the Korea talks

LONDON – Last year Kim Jong Un shocked the world with the unexpected speed of his nuclear missile development, his brutal crackdown on apparent rivals and suspicions that he ordered the assassination of his half-brother with a chemical nerve agent. This year, the North Korean leader opened January with a diplomatic offensive — but that doesn’t mean a change of strategy.

North Korean officials met their southern counterparts on Jan. 9 for the first such talks in two years. The outcome was an agreement to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics being hosted by South Korea next month as well as to hold military-to-military talks.

Openness to dialogue is, of course, a mildly positive signal. None of that, however, means North Korea has any intention of slowing its drive for evermore powerful nuclear missiles and warheads, specifically those that would allow it to hit the United States. Instead, Pyongyang appears to be pursuing a deliberate and increasingly successful strategy to drive a wedge between Washington and South Korea.

It’s a move that complicates the position for the Trump administration, potentially making direct U.S. military action against the Kim regime more difficult — if not impossible.

Seoul and Washington are longtime allies, with a formal mutual defense treaty dating back to the Korean ceasefire of 1953. The continuing presence of U.S. troops in South Korea is considered vital for the South’s survival. At the same time, however, they have different priorities.